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Rejection, revision overwhelm, self-doubt — I'm willing to bet a million dollars that you've experienced at least one of these roadblocks in your writing journey. But I have great news! After finishing this post, these roadblocks are going to disappear because I'm going to tell you how to shift your mindset to overcome them easily and finally find the writing motivation you need to finish your book.

As a professional book editor who's worked with hundreds of authors over the past decade, I've seen too many writers get so overwhelmed, burnt out, and discouraged that they give up on their writing dreams altogether. It's truly heartbreaking for me to think that those stories won't get told.

Shifting your mindset when you encounter these inevitable roadblocks in your journey is going to drastically change how you approach your writing and likely other parts of your life as well. The last mindset shift in particular is definitely applicable outside of your writing practice.

“Rejection isn’t a failure, but a stepping stone.”

If you are seeking publication for your story, then rejection is going to be an inevitable part of your process. Every successful author has faced rejection — in many cases, hundreds of rejections. So it's essential for me to give you a toolkit for how to deal with rejection, and this mindset shift is going to do just that. Here's what I want you to tell yourself anytime you receive a rejection going forward: “Rejection isn't a failure but a stepping stone.”

If you are pursuing traditional publishing for a book, then getting rejections from literary agents or publishing houses can feel like one closed door after the next. It may feel like you're getting further and further away from your goal of seeing your book on the shelf. But realize that you are actually in the process of putting yourself out there and getting rejected, getting closer to your dream of seeing your book published. Remember that if a literary agent or a publisher rejected you, then they ultimately weren't the best match to champion your book and bring it into readers' hands.

Finding an agent and publisher is not dissimilar to dating, so with every rejection, you're actually getting closer and closer to finding that perfect fit — that publishing partner that is going to love your book as much as you do and see the potential in it to really move and inspire readers. Even if you ultimately decide to go a different route with your publishing plans, going through these rejections is still helping you get closer to making that decision.

Anytime a rejection is getting you down, just remember how subjective this industry is. Many authors actually pride themselves on how many rejections they've received throughout their writing career because, to them, it is a testament to how much resilience they've built and how they are putting themselves out there. These writers know that it ultimately only takes one yes from a literary agent and one yes from a publisher to get their book on the shelf, and you never know when that yes might come — it could be the very next query that you send.

It's never going to be fun to receive rejections, I know, but try to get to that point where the rejections roll off your back and they don't emotionally affect you because you see and you understand that they are stepping stones. It might feel impossible now, but I promise that you can absolutely get there, and this mindset shift is going to give you so much more motivation to keep writing despite the rejection.

“Revision doesn’t mean my story is bad, but demonstrates how strong it can become.”

I recently did a post outlining the entire book editing process from start to finish, and I received some comments that it seemed super overwhelming, so I wanted to address that with this next mindset shift. Here it is: “Revision doesn't mean my story is bad but demonstrates how strong it can become.”

This specific mindset shift is near and dear to my heart. As a developmental book editor, I can tell you I don't know of a single author who has written a first draft and it was absolutely perfect and error-free. Just like chefs trial dozens of recipes before they nail the perfect balance, making your book as strong as it can possibly be requires multiple drafts and multiple rounds of revision.

This process does require patience and endurance, and I've seen too many authors get what I call "revision overwhelm" and give up before even really giving their book a shot. Sometimes they get stuck on a particularly hard revision that they just can't figure out how to execute, or they just get tired of working on the same story for months or years on end, so they give up or call the story "good enough" before it really is ready.

If you query or self-publish a book that you know could be stronger, you might end up disappointed down the line if literary agents don't express interest in working with you or if you don't sell as many copies of the book as you intend to. So right here and right now, I want you to shift your mindset regarding the revision process. Know and acknowledge that it is going to be a long road ahead, but buckle up and get ready for the ride and stay open-minded about where that road might take you. You might end up on a detour that is actually very exciting. Don't shy away from making bigger changes or "killing your darlings" if it's in the interest of telling the strongest version of this story and achieving your vision.

And remember, revision is not something you can or should have to do alone. You can lean on beta readers, critique partners, or professional editors to help you through it.

“External validation is great, but I must believe in myself to succeed.”

This is the mindset shift that's ultimately going to give you the most writing motivation and change your life outside of your writing practice. It's something that I personally have tried to adopt. Here it is: “External validation is great, but I must believe in myself to succeed.”

So many times, authors measure their worth against sources of external validation — that could be positive reviews or an award or reaching a bestseller list. But ultimately, this cycle of seeking that external validation is not sustainable, and you need to intrinsically believe in yourself to be the strongest writer, the strongest person you can be.

Many authors deal with impostor syndrome, which is the inability to see one's own worth even if others see you as successful or talented. You just don't believe them when they tell you these things. It can be so, so hard to overcome, but try to be mindful of when you are falling into these spirals of negative thoughts. If you are constantly thinking negatively about yourself, about your story, about your abilities as a writer, then you're likely going to set yourself up for failure. The last thing you want is to create a self-fulfilling prophecy where you end up failing and not reaching your publishing goals because you told yourself from the beginning that you would fail and not reach those goals.

I know that makes a lot of sense in theory, but it is so hard to put into practice. So here are some tangible things you can do to actively work against self-doubt and find the motivation to keep writing:

Celebrate every small win along the way. Say you get a full request from a literary agent or positive feedback from a beta reader — hold on to those moments. Savor them and let them be assurances that you are on the right track, even if you aren't ultimately where you want to be quite yet.
Keep a “brag book.” You can even keep a private brag book where you write down all of these positive responses that you got to remind yourself of those moments. Look at it whenever you need writing motivation.
Repeat this mantra. Anytime that you feel that self-doubt or impostor syndrome start to creep up, remind yourself of the mindset shift: “External validation is great, but I must believe in myself to succeed.”

Be gentle and kind with yourself because putting yourself and your story out there is such a hard thing to do. Ultimately, if you don't believe in yourself, then no amount of external validation is ever going to be enough, so you must start from within.

Thanks so much for reading, and happy writing!